Bond No 9: Central Park West

Central Park West

Bond No 9

A legendary, grand-scale address with a grand-scale front yard deserves an eau de parfum to match. A springtime wakeup call: Narcissus mingled with tangy ylang ylang and a pinch of piquant pepper. A beckoning white-petal mélange— orris, jasmine, and linden—and majestic gardenia.

Top notes: narcissus, ylang-ylang and pepper

 middle notes: jasmine, gardenia, lime (linden) blossom and iris 

base notes: vetiver, oak moss, oak and musk.

Prepare your noses for a floral blast! This is a potent white floral. So potent that just a drop of this perfume on the back of my hand is equal 10 sprays from a regular EDP in terms of longevity and silage. Which is a good thing, only if you like the perfume. When I tried it in winter, I found that it was too much. I had put my sample away for a better time to use it. Now that it is spring and I am loving florals, I thought it is a nice time for me to try this one out.

Central Park West begins with a sharp gardenia note. It is strong and coarse. It takes quite a while to settle down. As it progresses, it softens to a nice white floral, dominant gardenia, some ylang and very little sweetness. The narcissus is soapy and the musk is really clean. The theme of  'harsh, clean and soapy' continues but fades into very very powdery florals in the dry down, not quite interesting as the dramatic opening but much more wearable.

The overall effect that Central Park West gives is the opposite of what I would expect in a springtime floral perfume. I love my florals big and soft with some smoothness and some sweetness. But I do like the perfume, sans the harsh opening and uninteresting dry down (what is left of it fleetingly somewhere in between to like). 

Penhaligon's Peoneve

Penhaligon's Peoneve

"Peoneve opens with a burst of greenness from Violet Leaf absolute which gives way to a heart of luscious Peony, peppery Bulgarian Rose and a powerful white floral note courtesy of Hedione. The sensual base notes add a sense of summer abandon to the scent; earthy Vetiver, mischievous Musk and warm Cashmere Wood."

On my skin, Peoneve opens with a huge blast of rose, a loud and clear rose. It is a very fresh rose, so fresh that it smells like a just picked red rose, with dew drops and the smell of the green herbaceous stem (the Violet Leaf aspect). I don't know about Peonies but it smells like a realistic rose fragrance. At this stage, it is quite strong to the point that makes me doubt if it belongs to the dainty and delicate Penhaligon's house. The rose gives way to luscious jasmine (hedionine aspect probably). The fragrance now mellows and reaffirms that it is actually a Penhaligon. The white florals are dense but soft, very enjoyable. The dry down is all vetiver, very fresh, slightly woody, earthy, a nice accent to the florals, both rose and jasmine.

Peoneve is a feminine, fresh fragrance which is both soft and powerful. It goes on with a punch of rose but calms down to a really soft but fresh floral dry down. The lasting power is good, a few drops from my sample vial is lasting a 4+ hours on me. I would consider buying a bottle if in fact I generally liked rose.